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No horse flesh sold labeled as beef in Armenia , food safety service says
YEREVAN, February 27. /ARKA/. The food safety service of Armenian ministry of agriculture rules out the possibility of horsemeat being sold in the guise of beef, spokesperson of the service Babken Pipoyan told ARKA Agency.
In the beginning of the year a scandal broke in Europe after horsemeat DNA was found in beef burgers of Spanish AhorraMas and Irish Silvercrest Foods. After a couple of checks horse flesh was found also in some beef products of France, Germany, Italy and Sweden.
“If I’m not mistaken, early last year, we recorded a case with horsemeat sold in the guise of beef, and the culprits were fined. But the last check-ups in December 2012 discovered no such case”, Pipoyan said.
The spokesperson said the service is carrying out regular check-ups not only in Yerevan, but on all major markets of the country’s regions.
However, Pipoyan said, there might be attempts of fraudulent meat sales in the future. The service will continue thoroughly monitoring the meat markets, he said.
Armenia’s state food safety service found horsemeat and meat of dead animals on meat markets of Yerevan in December 2011: respective sanctions were imposed and the culprits were fined 400,000 drams (around $1,000). –0--
14:21 27.02.2013
